Missionary Andy Owen has been chosen to deliver the keynote address at Tabor College’s 119th commencement on May 18.

A 1994 Tabor graduate, Owen currently serves with Multiply, formerly known as MB Mission. Along with wife Carmen and their three children, the family has served in Thailand for the past 18 years, most recently as a regional team leader for Southeast Asia.

“It’s really exciting for me,” Owen said about Tabor’s invitation to speak. “I continue to support and believe in the mission of Tabor and all of the challenges that come with higher education. I’m just grateful for how God continues to use Tabor to transform lives like he did mine.”

Owen said his college years as a Tabor student were transformational.

“The Lord really put a call on my life while I was at Tabor,” Owen said. “It was through a class I took on world mission, which opened my eyes to the needs of unreached people all over the world. Also, the focus on discipleship and following the voice of Jesus was emphasized during my time at Tabor, which confirmed that call. I went on a couple of short-term mission trips while I was at Tabor that really solidified those things.”

Owen said speaking at the 2019 commencement carried special meaning for him.

“It will be 25 years since I graduated,” he said. “In 1994, I got up and spoke for a three-minute talk that the Lord had impressed on me about the Mount of Transfiguration. I referenced the original meaning of Tabor, then called my fellow graduates to go out and make a difference in the world.”

Owen added, “Looking back on that 25 years later, there’s a lot of things I couldn’t have fathomed when it comes to seeing all that God has done in Southeast Asia, specifically in church planting, and to see God move in some really powerful ways that I know would have been impossible without him. Today the work in Southeast Asia has expanded to multiple churches and thousands of believers across Thailand, Laos, Myanmar and the Philippines.”